ALEXANDRIA, Va. (WUSA) -- A Bethesda preschool teacher plead guilty to producing child pornography on Monday, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to the press release, 54-year-old James Douglas Manring filmed himself performing sexual acts on several five-year-old students while teaching at a preschool in Japan from 1996 to 1999. He then returned to the U.S. with the DVD's he produced.

Manring was discovered during a law enforcement operation called operation known as Operation Spade. He purchased videos from April 2010 to February 2011 that depicted graphic images of genitals and public areas of minor boys, which were being mailed to Manring's home in Fredericksburg, the release stated. He was arrested on Nov. 12.

Manring plead guilty to two counts of production of child pornography and faces a maximum sentence of 40 years.